environmentalism

Got one of those crazy family members who thinks that Rush Limbaugh is an expert on, well, everything, and who firmly believes that climate change is a conspiracy designed to undermine the capitalist economy? Yep, we know the type, and we fully understand that you may already be dreading family time at the holidays. This uncle or cousin or in-law isn’t going to let facts get in the way, so showing him how even scientists once skeptical about global warming are coming around in a big way probably won’t change any minds. And this relative certainly isn’t going to hold back for the sake of a peaceful gathering.

Notice any unusual weather patterns lately? Any hurricanes, tornadoes, tsunamis, drought or flood come your way? If you’ve lived on this Earth in the last year or two then the answer is, undoubtedly, yes. But if you’re someone who refuses to believe that these dramatic changes in our weather are a sign that maybe humans haven’t had the best impact on our environment, get ready to wake the %#*! up. This Wednesday, climate change deniers get an extra dose of reality with the Climate Reality Project, a 24-hour, global, livestream event that reveals, once and for all, the very real scope of the climate crisis.

The Climate Reality Project asks you to make time for reality on Wednesday, September 14 at 7PM, in your time zone. “Pick a faraway place or a city near you. Make it yours for one day. We’re hitting every time zone, but only once…Choose a location and get involved.” If your hometown isn’t represented, pick some place you’ve never been to (French Polynesia, Tonga, New Delhi or Seoul) or maybe never even heard of. Personally, I’m choosing Ilulissat. But prepare yourself for some serious talk on climate change, and stand ready to take action. This isn’t a fluffy, pictures of dolphins in net, tear-jerking talk-the-talk but no walk kinda thing. Did you watch the videos m ss ng p eces made? Would they create poop and hurl it at a fan if this wasn’t for real? Just watch the behind-the-scenes: Al Gore is pissed, and really, why aren’t more people? As the man says, if you’re not angry, you’re not paying attention.

Last week our friends at the UK sex toy retailer LoveHoney.co.uk launched a short, fascinating video about how sex toys (and other stuff like toasters) get recycled. It’s part of their Rabbit Amnesty program: you send them your battered and bruised sex toys and they give you Lovehoney loyalty points (“Oh points”) that you can…

California’s Climate Adaptation Strategy, the nation’s first comprehensive, multi-sector analysis of its kind, was released Wednesday. Developed in response to a 2008 executive order from Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, the strategy is intended to strengthen the state’s management of global warming impacts such as sea level rise, increased temperatures, shifting precipitation and extreme natural events.

Meeting for the first time on Japanese soil, Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and President Barack Obama today committed their governments to “a new era in the global fight against climate change” by shifting to low-carbon growth and achieving “a successful outcome” at the UN climate conference next month.

It’s kind of ironic: women turn to vibrators so their hands don’t have to do the work, but with the new Earth Angel vibe you have to hand-crank it to get it to work. Of course, it’s for a good cause: renewable, sustainable energy! And we suppose if you crank using both hands equally, you…